Why did you eat that? – The Hounds Version

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

Well it all started with me cleaning out the fridge, the pasta had gone bad, I tossed it into the garbage bag instead of wanting to compost it..  (I did this because almost everything on the farm likes to check the compost to see if I was crazy enough to throw out something that is perfectly good in their view

and I got busy in a different part of the house and when I came back and I had a tipped, big snapped lid off and someone had gotten into the pasta, now the good thing was they only eat a bit of the pasta, most of it was still clearly there and I thought.. ok.. so they were foolish but at least they stopped..

Did not matter.. the vomiting started and it was a good batch to say the least..  If you live with a hound or hounds in your life, you know that at some point, they will get into something they should not and they will get its all coming up mom..

Well, that’s what I had last night.. no point at all in not letting them get it out of the system, so I first made sure they had lots of fresh water and we went outside( go ahead, laugh, I had hopes that I might get them to do it outside) but they just did what dogs do when they want to continue getting sick, they eat more things to make it go faster..

Anyway, they did not want to stay outside and so I spent a great deal of time cleaning up in the house.. Ah. hounds, its like having a three-year old in the house, smart enough to know that they don’t feel good and that you are the fixer, but can’t understand that you can’t make it all better..

Finally the tummies where empty and we were down to just that lovely yellowish foamy bile..  Now in-between, I patted, cuddle and wiped chins and faces, but finally we got to the point that I could do my first giving a helping hand.

I made a very strong batch of mint tea with a bit of raw honey added in at the end, with a pinch of salt and they all enjoyed a drink and very soon after started to relax and settle. I also put out some spearmint oil on my clay dish..

this morning, they were looking for breakfast, I had not planned on giving it to them, I had planned a resting period with a nice bone broth for support but as they where not sick on the rear, I changed my mind, they got instead a very light breakfast of baked sweet potato

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As long as they hold it down with no issues, then tonight, I will make them a nice bone broth-Barley supper to help make them feel full but again a nice slow food that will give them a calm down on the tummy.. On top of each bowl of just warmed supper will be a full dose of powdered probiotics, which they will get for three days running.

They are bright-eyed and perky and full of themselves, so I am not overall worried but each little thing needs to be watched. This morning, I am simmering Apples and Cloves, the house smells great!

What is your personal favorite way to deal with an upset tummy on your beloved hound or hounds?  Do you let them just deal with it? Do you provide support for them?

Posted in Life moves on daily | 5 Comments

Wednesday Flash back..

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

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Fall Shoulder Lamb Chop Stew

the above was the post on the blog 5 years ago, the this an that post was four years ago..

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Lets see what was happening three years ago!

Northern B.C an Alberta Road trip.. travel time with mom, visiting time with family..

DSCN0746 (800x736)Two years ago a in depth look at our potato harvest results, including yield results in ground an in straw

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and last year.. what were we up to that day!  Butternut squash is the winner, the land race! hope you enjoyed this flashback weds an that one or more of the above posts might interest you.. its amazing that in Nov the blog will be six years old.

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Fall Ride with two of my favorite Gents..

Posted on October 11, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

The crisp air, the green hay fields, the turning colors, and two of the finest men on my farm and in my world. Wonderful DH and Caleb looking mighty fine! When I got Caleb to be my riding buddy, it was the best choice ever! I didn’t expect him to also turn out to be the most amazing hubby horse! He takes care of Dh when he is in the saddle that’s for sure.

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And least you think, he does not share well, (he so does) when it comes to his people..

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Fall Skirret Harvest 2016

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

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There they are, the six plants gotten this spring of skirret, they were babied, they were put into well dug an very fertile soil, even in the worst of the drought at least weekly they were well watered and today was harvest day.

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These were two year old plants, having been slips replanted out last year after harvest, and this one was the best of all of them.

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For the wee splits, I did not harvest any root off of them, you can see them on the left, starting with six, we split out the babies and replanted three rows of 5 plants each, we needed to move them to a new bed, which is very rich but perhaps not as well dug, we will see if that has a effect next year, for the larger plants, I took up to a third of their biggest roots and then replanted

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These were scrubbed, tipped and tailed, I did try one raw, carrot-parsnip cross, did nothing for me, the rest were given a light drizzle of fat and sea salt and oven roasted for 20 min, the outside for the smallest became golden brown, but most had soft melt like skin, the inside is slightly sweet, soft, creamy.. its like mashed potatoes with a hint of winter turnip mashed in.

My hubby an I stood at the pan sampling these.. not as sweet as thought, creamy, mushy, do you think you could deep fry the thin ones like a sweet potato chip and then I looked at the pan and went stop, we have almost eaten all of them and I have no photo or saved any for a recipe..

ekkk.. hubby laughed.. so while they are different, they are so good that we almost eat all in one sitting.. thankfully I did save the rest and will be doing a recipe shortly.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/fruitandvegetables/11421128/Skirret-the-forgotten-Tudor-vegetable.html

‘The sweetest, whitest and most pleasant of roots,” raves gentleman gardener John Worlidge in his 1677 Systema Horticulturae, or, The Art of Gardening. “Pleasant and wholesome,” agrees Culpeper’s Complete Herbal. Yet the subtle sweetness of the modest skirret, noted by Pliny as the Emperor Tiberius’s favourite and a mainstay of Tudor tables, is all but lost today.

Unfussy in most soils, resistant to disease and relishing frost, this sweet, white root’s downfall was progress. “It’s just not a commercial crop,” explains Marc Meltonville, food historian at Historic Royal Palaces. Relatively low-yield, fiddly to harvest and fiddlier to prepare, poor little skirret’s delightful but skinny roots were overtaken by bold, brash, industrial-scale potatoes and parsnips. Dainty and delicate, skirret’s loss to the commercial world is a gift to the home gardener.

Native to China, skirret arrived in Europe during classical times, probably brought to the British Isles by the Romans. It featured in monastic gardens, but became popular in medieval times and was used a lot in Tudor cookery.

“Nobody knows exactly what Henry VIII himself ate,” says Meltonville. “It was his secret.” At each course of every meal 20 dishes were presented for his selection, including meat (a lot of meat), spices, sugars and citrus fruits. Among such exotic splendour good old English veg were taken for granted and are rarely mentioned in reports.

“The old books say it needs a rich soil but I’ve found it to be pretty unfussy,” says Cooke. It doesn’t mind exposed or maritime sites and seems to actively enjoy the cold, one of the reasons it was popular in Scotland, where it was known as crummock. Its wild ancestor grows on the banks of waterways (another name for it is “water parsnip”).

Skirret’s biggest fan, Worlidge, says it grows well in “a dripping year”, and recommends lavish watering. If the roots get dry, they become fibrous and less crisp.

In the kitchen skirret needs a light touch. Its delicate nature is easily lost – even puréeing can lose some of the subtlety. “I tried parboiling it, but it couldn’t take it,” says Meltonville. “Celebrate it on its own. Eat it raw or cube it up and fry it in butter with a little garlic, in an iron pan if possible.”

The Tudors, who delighted in “sallats”, added skirret to salads as we might spring onions or radishes. Try serving it on a bed of rocket, one of their favourite salad leaves.

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October unprocessed week 2 cost info

Posted on October 9, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

Oct 3rd

  • breakfast- oatmeal-50 cents(DH) bean salad .75 (FG)
  • lunch soup-pork-veggie 2.00 (dh) an Cold Corn 1.00 (FG)
  • supper -Venison Stew with biscuit * 3.4 pounds Venison 29.99 per kilo per 2.2 pounds -44.98 potatoes 6, 2 onions, garlic, half package mushrooms, 6 carrots total= 51.73
  • Drinks, Water, Coffee an tea with honey 1.50
  • Snack- pumpkin spice loaf x2 2.00  oatmeal peanut butter cookies (hubby only)6 cookie 1.50
  • Baking powder biscuit 1.00 each x2
  • six portions of stew-8.62

Total Costs 37.61 6 meals plus snacks and drinks average out to 6.27 per meal

Farmgal Costs 10.26  6 meals plus snacks and drinks average out to 1.71 per meal

Farmgal Saving : 27.35

Oct 4th

Breakfast- Oatmeal (DH) .50  Biscuit with leftover chicken bits (FG) 2.00

Lunch- Egg Drop Soup (FG) White broth, kale bits, spices and 1 farm egg 4.00 and Venison Stew (DH) with Biscuit 9.62

Supper- Homemade Taco’s 1 Pound Beef 6.00 (home raised canned) two onions .50 garlic .25 two large tomato’s 1.50  four large flat breads 2.67  1 head of romaine lettuce 1.00  half a cup of salsa 1.50

Drinks- Coffee, tea and water 1.50

Snacks- DH, Cookies, Pumpkin Loaf 4.50 and  Cherry Jam Buns (tiny but three each for both Compared to local bakery 3.99 for top of the line fruit buns.

Total cost for the day 39.53 Total cost for 6 meals, plus 3 snacks and drinks- 6.58 per meal

Farmgal Costs : 12.59 total costs for 6 meals 3 snacks and drinks- per meal 2.09

Farmgal’s Savings : 26. 94

  • chicken bits left on the bones, broth was rabbit, kale from garden, farm egg, our raised beef, garden veggies, homemade flat bread an salsa, my own sour cherry jam made with local Ontario grown cherries bought in bulk for processing. I made a small batch of dough, four flat breads and six cherry buns.

Oct 5th

Breakfast- 2 eggs, Kale on biscuit (FG) 1.00 x2  Pumpkin loaf 1.00, Oatmeal .50  (DH) Orange .40

Lunch- Dh (Beef Barley Soup) 3.99 6 cookies 1.50 , Pumpkin loaf 1.00 (FG) Oven Roasted Carrots, butter and salt Top of line carrot soup cost 3.99

Supper: Leftover Vension Stew,- 8.62 x2 Biscuit 1 x2 and 1 whole fresh pinapple cut up for dessert 3.99

Drinks: Water, Coffee and Tea 1.50

Total cost : 39.11

Meal costs- 6 meals-two snacks and drinks- 6.52

Farmgal costs – 10.60   meal cost -6 meals plus snack an drink- 1.76 per meal

  • eggs an kale from farm, beef an some veggies from farm, all baked good homemade, leftovers and pinapple got on sale at 2 for 5

Farmgal Savings-28.51

Oct 6th

Well, hubby had a fun day today lets just split our meals up

breakfast- pumpkin loaf x 3 3.00, hot chocolate 2 dollars  orange .40

Lunch- massive poutine an coke (taken for work lunch) 14

Supper as he was still not hungry when got home-none

snack – five cookies an tea x2 3.50

 

FG- Breakfast- Hot mushroom soup-3.99 clear mushroom-onion broth

lunch- Roasted Carrot, Acorn Sqaush with a bit of butter, salt 2.50

Supper: Roasted Pork (as hubby did not want to eat, I just had a portion of pork) 4

5  orange current cookies 2 dollars , coffee and lemonade an water 1.50

Total costs : 34.89  Breakdown, 5 meals, 4 snacks and drinks. 6.98

Farmgal Costs 25.47 (Look at what eating out did to my budget!) Take out hubbies eating out lunch of 14..

On farm costs -11.47 5 meals plus 4 snacks and drinks 2.29 per person per meal.

Farmgal savings  9.42

 

Oct 7th

Breakfast-Oatmeal .50, orange .40, (DH) hot chocolate.2 , 3/4 of cup of cold diced pork 4 with a 1/4th of salsa .75, coffee (FG)

Lunch- FG (Harvest Soup) 3.99 , Pork and Roasted Carrots 5

Supper- Harvest Soup X 2 at 3,99

Snacks and Drinks 7 cookies, Potato Chips (just oil, potato, salt) and homemade dip, Water, Apple Juice, Coffee and Tea.  7, 2, 3, 1.50

Total for the day 30.47 average out to 5.07 per meal, 6 meals and snacks and drinks

Farmgal Costs : 8.82 costs total out to 1.47 per person, per meal including days snacks and drinks.

Oct 8th

Breakfast- Green Grapes 4.50 and Hot coffee or tea for both of us.

Lunch- Omelet, 2 eggs each, 1 onion, half a red pepper, a cup of mushrooms and half a cup of old aged cheddar cheese. 3 x2

Supper : Green Salad 2 x2 2.99  and Harvest Soup x2 3.99

Snacks Popcorn with butter 3

Drinks, Water, Apple Juice, tea and coffee 2

Costs 29.46  six meals, drinks and snacks per meal cost : 4.91

Farmgal costs :13.05 Cost per meal 2.17

Totals Week 1 (remember was only 2 days long)

Total Cost 62.02

Farmgal Total Cost :26.65

Savings for the week- 35.37 or .57% savings

Total for the Week 2 is 211.07  averages out to 5.02 per meal including snack-drinks

Farmgal Total of the Week is 66.79 Averages out to 1.59 per meal including snack-drinks

Total Savings for the week is 144.28 or 68% by being on the farm.

Now I did my best to eat like normal while still doing all unprocessed foods Challenge for October.. so I am aware that I am still doing some of my regular normal cost saving things like making bigger portions and then eating leftovers and as hubby was taken out for his lunch, I was grateful I did not have to add that to my food bill..  It was eye popping to realize that one meal could be more then my total day food costs..

Combined overview to date.

Total – 273.09

Farmgal Total – 93.44

Savings with percent 179.65 or 66% savings overall

Now comes the scary part for me..

if we eat the way  that we do and bought from the store, we need to increase the spending x2 for the national average of 4 per house, our overview so far only covers nine days but its a work in progress

546.18.. national average says we need to spend between 1200 to 1600 per month for four people family.. I have already “spent” 546.18 of my max 1600 in nine days, I am seeing a clear issue.

Even on my Farmgal savings, I am at 186.88 for the 9 days if done for a family of four..

Well, what do you think? expected higher savings? thought farm raised meats would be cheaper? liked the link backs to the meals? and recipes for things served?

 

 

 

 

 

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Healthy Harvest Soup Recipe

Posted on October 8, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

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Healthy Harvest Soup

2 quarts Broth Made from a pork with bone in roast
2 cups of garlic scrapes
2 cups of red pepper diced…
1 large carrot diced
1 cup of cooked acorn squash
1/2 cup of pearl barley
1 cup of diced pre-cooked pork
1 tsp of Basil or Horseradish Dried Crumbled Greens or Dried Nettle greens crumbled.

This soup is quite flexible, but I will do it in detail because it got RAVE reviews..  I took a 4 pounds shoulder roast of a pasture raised pork which was pretty lean with bone in and I put 2 cups of frozen chopped Garlic Scrapes and 2 cups of diced frozen red pepper into the bottom of my good heavy cast iron baking pot and I put the meat on top, and added water till it reached 3/4th up the roast and it went into a slow oven at 300. It was cooked till it was fall apart tender, reducing broth about half.

I pulled the roast, using it for a few things and then I chilled the rest overnight in a nice flat pan and I deglazed the sides and bits on the pot for an extra quart of broth in the end, leaving me with 2 quarts of pork-veggies broth

Then I strained it and diced the scrapes into smaller bits for eating in the soup, I had leftover roasted carrot, squash and pre-cooked pork, in it all went with some dried greens, and half a cup of Pearl Barley, the first soup was taken and eaten when then barley was just cooked, and it was good but it hit its “rave reviews” on reheat, the barley was full and plump.

 

Posted in Life moves on daily, Winter Eating Challange | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

A Question for you all? Canadian Thanksgiving Mini Challange

Posted on October 7, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

Hi to everyone but this is mainly at the moment for my Canadian readers.. thanksgiving is this weekend! Got a wee thanksgiving mini Challenge for you all.  photo off net

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Can you make one or more item on your dinner table 0 mile?

Can you make one or more item on your dinner table Locally produced? 100 mile max

Can you make one or more items on your dinner table local farm gate or pasture raised or u-picked, something anything that cut the middle man and came from within a reasonable distance from your home?

Let me know how it goes? Also was it something traditional to your table or did you need think outside the regular to make it happen?

Posted in Life moves on daily | 4 Comments

Orange Black Current Cookie Recipe

Posted on October 7, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

Orange Black Current Cookies (traditional recipe first)

  • half a cup of butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 orange rind scrapes for orange bits
  • 1 orange juiced (put though strainer, no seeds and bits)
  • 3/4 cup of dried black currents
  • 2 cups of flour
  • 1 tbsp. of baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp of Baking Soda
  • 1/2 tsp of Salt
  • 1/2 tsp of ground ginger

Cream Butter and Sugar, then add eggs, blend together, add vanilla, orange rind bits, orange juice and currents, mix together.. then add flour, on top of that, add the rest of the dry and mix together. I like to then chill this for five min in fridge, cut into two parts, roll in logs in wax paper an then cut into cookies at about a inch each, bake at 350 till golden brown.

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But I needed to change a few things up for the unprocessed challenge, they turned out excellent but had to be carefully watched in the oven as they browned easier with the honey and they really needed the chill time. I also removed one egg for a bit of less liquid.

Modified Recipe Unprocessed Version

  • Half a cup of butter
  • Half a cup of honey
  • 1 large farm egg (I wanted a big egg so it was a duck egg)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 orange rind scrapes for orange bits
  • 1 orange juiced (put though strainer, no seeds and bits)
  • 3/4 cup of dried black currents
  •  1 and 1/2 cups of white wheat whole flour.
  • 1 tbsp. of baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp of Baking Soda
  • 1/2 tsp of Salt
  • 1/2 tsp of ground ginger

It was a bit more tricky as the amount of orange juice per orange would make a difference and I lowered the oven temp by 25 degree’s and watched it carefully, I found it was a touch sticky and I needed a touch of flour on my logs

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Venison Stew with Baking Powder Biscuits Recipe

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

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Slow Roasted Venison Stew with Baking Powder Biscuits

  • 3.4 pound Shoulder Roast with a bit of bone in
  • 2 med onions
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 4 large potato’s
  • 4 large carrots
  • half a smaller turnip
  • 8 whole mushrooms
  • Salt, pepper and Basil to taste.

Slow oven at 300, put your onions, garlic and roast in your good cast iron pot and cover with water up to 3/4th of the roast, (this is a slow wetter roast) for at least 3 hours and then take out, and add the sliced into 4 mushrooms, large cubed potato, carrots and turnips around the roast, cover and back into the oven for another two to three hours till the veggies are fork tender. At this point, the meat will be fall apart tender.

This made a very generous 6 portions

Lets talk a little bit about Venison..

Venison is typically considered to anything from the deer family, it is any cut or part of the deer, it can be any sex and any age.. its all still venison.

You can buy farmed Venison, I have seen those prices.. ouch! its a bit crazy locally in my area for what the costs will be but in most of N.A. there is a way to get much more reasonable cost for venison and that is hunting of course.

Yes, you need to jump though more hoops today then I or my family did as a child, its a combo of where I live today and just more modern rules.. Having said that, its not the case in many areas in the states, where instead of a draw, you can buy one or more tags for a few dollars.

For anyone that wants top of the line meat, Venison is that and then some.. having said that, it does take to certain ways of cooking.. if you are used to bland store meats, you will find it very full of flavour, if you are used to that grain feed perfectly marbled meats that are great for fast fry.. then many cuts of Venison will turn out to be stiff and dry..

Venison needs to be treated like a well raised grass-fed lean red meat.. speaking of that, where the deer lives and what is main grazing is, will effect its flavour.. bush deer do not taste the same as corn feed-hay pasture deer,  any more then eastern moose taste the same as northern willow moose will..

So if you are not already hunting to help fill you freezer, I would highly recommend considering learn about it.. as the food costs continue to go up.. this is a area that if you are careful and frugal, you can get into it on the cheap side.. learn to do your own butchering and now you are really saving big!

Do you hunt? Do you eat wild game? What is your favorite way to eat Venison? Are you in a area that has lots of deer or are you in a area that you can hunt all season and come home empty handed, that you might not get a tag, that you might have to travel to get a tag?

 

Posted in Life moves on daily, Soups and Stews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Homestead Weight Loss Support Group

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Just another day on the farm

Homestead weight loss support group

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Do you facebook? Are you a homesteader, farmer, gardener or a whole food lover that also would like to lose a few or more pounds. I am active, I am healthy per all the battery of tests they have done on me but I am also heavier then I would like.

Want to have support from fellow whole food lovers that understand the time and effort that goes into raising, growing, harvesting an putting up a portion of your own food then I hope you will consider joining the group.

 

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